Lifesaver for Animals Saved From Extinction

A sanctuary dedicated to saving abandoned and abused animals from euthanasia has itself been saved from the brink of death.

Pets Alive, which was about to be foreclosed upon earlier this year, made a last-ditch appeal to the public that has succeeded in raising enough money to keep more than 100 troubled animals alive.

It is considered the only shelter in the state that will accept just about any type of animal and house it indefinitely until a suitable home is found. If the shelter folded, many of the animals faced euthanasia.

“From the bottom of my heart for the animals, I want to thank everyone,” said Sarah Whalen, who has run the shelter in Middletown, about 60 miles northwest of New York City, for more than a decade.

The multi-acre spread shelters such pets as North, a blind golden retriever whose owner abandoned it; Andrew, an abandoned steer; four formerly abused miniature horses; more than 22 dogs declared dangerous by the courts, and countless other abandoned pets.

The center was owned by Whalen, but when she ran into financial trouble because of a divorce a few years ago she faced foreclosure on the $250,000 mortgage.

Desperate to save the animals, Whalen took her case to the media, and the public responded. Girl Scouts held bake sales. One bank manager put a donations box in the bank.

Those donations reached more than $40,000, but it still wasn’t enough. Then an anonymous woman benefactor stepped forward and agreed to give Pets Alive a $160,000 interest-free loan.

“I’d love to know who she is,” Whalen said, “because I would like to put my hands around her neck and give her a big hug for Andrew and North and all of those animals who would have been in danger.”